Impact of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Spartina alterniflora genetic diversity in the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana from 2015-06-29 to 2016-09-17

This dataset was generated from a field survey conducted in the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana that explored the relationship between biodiversity (taxonomic and genetic) and oil disturbance in coastal wetlands. The Chandeleur Islands provide a natural setting to investigate these questions as coastal areas in close proximity varied in their exposure to oil from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill. We surveyed genetic diversity of the marsh plant Spartina alterniflora in 0.5m * 0.5m quadrats within natural assemblages of marsh plants only and marsh plants and mangroves (S. alterniflora and Avicennia germinans) across this oiling exposure gradient. We repeated the survey at the beginning and end of the growing season for two years to examine temporal variation in biodiversity. The other related data is available under GRIIDC Unique Dataset Identifier (UDI) R4.x262.212:0005 (doi:10.7266/N7QJ7FBZ).